Chapter 38.2
Time was actually getting late. People at school were looking for her everywhere, and even Gong Lin had searched for her several times, making Luo Yan slightly nervous.
“Luo Yan, you finally appeared! If you hadn’t, the school might have turned our class upside down.” As soon as Gong Lin saw Luo Yan walking from the gate, she ignored everything else and stepped forward with watery eyes, looking like she couldn’t bear the stress.
“This… no need to panic. I’m back now, aren’t I?” Luo Yan spoke to her calmly, having disguised herself quite well.
“Mhm, it’s good that you’re back.” Gong Lin was actually used to the fact that Luo Yan might flake out, given the original owner was indeed unreliable.
Now that Luo Yan had become reliable lately, she was actually a bit unaccustomed to it.
Soon, the school authorities found her. Seeing that her attire wasn’t strictly formal but acceptable for a speech, they hurriedly rushed over and whisked her away to the stage.
Luo Yan didn’t expect them to be in such a rush; before she could say a word, she was ushered onto the stage. She sighed deeply and began to wonder if coming back was a mistake.
But she wasn’t too nervous. After a round of adjustment backstage, she walked onto the stage composedly.
When the host yielded the stage to her, she noticed Luo Yan didn’t have a script and couldn’t help but ask: “The script… did you forget it?”
“No, it’s just recorded in my mind.” Luo Yan didn’t elaborate.
“Oh, so you’re doing an extemporaneous speech?” The host looked at Luo Yan with an instinctive gaze of doubt.
After all, who didn’t know Luo Yan’s reputation? A total rich second-generation heir who lacked ambition. Many were surprised the school invited her to speak; wouldn’t having an unlearned playboy speak bring shame to the school?
If she had a script, at least she’d remember what she wrote, but now she had the audacity to say she was going off-script? The host felt everything was going black.
When she had to host again later, it would surely be an “earth-shattering” social death! She’d have to find every possible way to save face for Luo Yan.
The scene was so “beautiful” she dared not imagine it.
Luo Yan understood the host’s contemptuous look but didn’t pay much attention to it. For one, she felt it wasn’t worth it, and for another, how she chose to give the speech was none of the host’s business.
Furthermore, the original owner was an absolute “trash Alpha” in the eyes of the public. Although Luo Yan didn’t mind, and never cared about her image, it didn’t mean she could remain so stagnant. She had to think of her future and couldn’t remain a “nothing” forever.
If the speech had been yesterday, she might have added one thing: she absolutely could not lose face for the big villain.
But now, that reason could perhaps be erased.
She thought back to how she had planned to marry the big villain in the near future if things went smoothly. For whatever reason, she had marked her several times; even if they were temporary marks, she indeed needed to take responsibility for Xue Wu, or at least fulfill the engagement.
As for later, if the big villain regained her memory, they could talk then. She’d accept whatever revenge she chose.
But now, she only felt her previous thoughts were naive. You can’t force a twisted melon to be sweet. What else could she say?
…She only wanted to give the big villain the best; such a vision had turned into empty words, even if she had achieved it.
Luo Yan soon reached the stage. She hadn’t noticed while she was below, but once on stage, she was shocked to find a dense crowd gathered for this small freshman orientation. It was way beyond her expectations.
Looking at the mass of people below, she couldn’t help but wonder: did the school really have this many freshmen? Wasn’t it said that Li University was hard to get into? They were sitting as thick as ants—what was going on?
Even more absurdly, she saw television cameras and all sorts of photographers pointing at her, snapping away until she began to doubt if she had become some sort of celebrity. What on earth was this?
“Go Luo Yan!”
“Luo Yan, look over here! You’re our pride!”
“Luo Yan V5!”
…
Luo Yan: “…” Don’t do this, I’m scared.
Looking at the support signs that had appeared out of nowhere, Luo Yan didn’t feel honored; she felt surprised and embarrassed. This… this was just a small speech, not a battle! No need for this!
She was about to steady her mind for the speech when she unexpectedly saw her sister—who should have been at the office in a meeting—standing there with a faint smile, watching her.
However, she had anticipated this, which is why she rushed back; she was afraid her sister would worry.
But! Sister, the support sign your assistant is holding doesn’t need to be that big! It was visible from ten meters away, enough for her to “socially die” ten times!
Luo Yan: …Scared qvq.
“Um… I… shouldn’t be in the wrong place, right?” Luo Yan wasn’t sure. “This is the Li University freshman orientation, right?”
“Yes!”
“Yes! You’re in the right place!”
“Exactly! This is it!”
…
Answers echoed from everywhere. Luo Yan barely caught them but was still confused: “Then why… why are you all holding support signs… I’m only speaking for a few minutes, not singing or dancing.”
Pausing, she added in a very “timid Alpha” manner: “You guys doing this makes me really nervous, okay?”
“Pfft—”
Luo Xi burst out laughing from below. How had she never noticed her sister was this cute?
“Hahahaha, just accept our passion!”
“That’s right! Boss Luo, you might not know, but even though you only advanced in the National Jewelry Design Competition, we looked through the records of the past few years and found you’re the first one to advance in first place! First place! You’ve completely crushed the other universities!”
“Exactly, so you deserve our passion!”
…
Actually, Li University is a very comprehensive university, everyone knows that. Their jewelry design department isn’t bad either, but for some reason, the works produced every year lacked a bit of “spirit.”
They were beautiful but soulless, which never quite hit the mark. Consequently, the number of people advancing every year was small, and the rankings were low. In recent years, they’d even been mocked by other universities saying Li University had no successors.
The students of Li University were furious but helpless, as the situation at their school was indeed as described. They could only swallow their pride.
They thought this year would be the same and didn’t hold much hope, but they never expected that the “trash Alpha” Luo Yan would… actually advance with the top score!
Luo Yan herself probably felt nothing, but once it was known she took first in the preliminary, the school forum exploded! Especially the jewelry design students—they never expected this unlearned Alpha to save their school’s honor.
Many thought she had bought her way in, but once they saw the design, they were sold. Gold paired with gemstones—that combination was too precious!
It was truly beautiful, the kind of design you could look at and get addicted to. Where else could you find such a design?
So it was a moment of pride.
However, other schools felt they had lost massive face by having a “notorious Alpha” take the top spot. Even if it was just the preliminary, it was enough to make them lose glory.
It was simply too embarrassing. The forum threads grew tall, and people even infiltrated their school forum to smear Luo Yan, making everyone furious. Upon learning Luo Yan was to give a speech, they all came to support her without hesitation, intending to publicize it extensively to spite those “lemon spirits” (jealous people) from the other schools who lacked sportsmanship.
Luo Xi had also heard the report from her assistant on her way to work and came to Luo Yan’s school on short notice just to establish her prestige.
Poor Luo Yan guessed her sister would come but didn’t guess there would be such a “terrifying” show of support…
If she had known beforehand, she would have done her best to stop them, because she had drawn a very difficult theme and didn’t know if she could win the crown next time.
If she failed next time, it would be very embarrassing.
But it was too late to stop it now; the public sentiment was surging and everyone’s spirits were high. She couldn’t say anything to stop them.
She could only stand on stage and begin the speech.
However, someone below said in a quiet, sarcastic voice: “Can’t even read a single big word yet tries to give a speech? Embarrassing!”
This clearly contemptuous remark reached Luo Yan’s ears distinctly, making it hard to ignore.
Yet, she wasn’t angry. She looked over calmly, with quite a “cool Alpha” flair. “Student, we are strangers. I don’t know why you think of me this way, but you don’t really think my degree was bought, do you?”
“Or is it… that because I didn’t bring a script, you assume I’m illiterate? That’s quite an arbitrary way to think.”
Luo Yan looked at her with a slight smile: “If your brain isn’t enough, eat more ‘brain flowers’ (pig brains) to supplement it. Don’t come out and make a fool of yourself, wasting so much of our fellow students’ time.”
The speaker was a female Alpha. Hearing Luo Yan’s words—which contained no profanity yet were clearly insulting—she was furious and about to say something, but many people below told her to shut up and stop wasting time.
Luo Yan was satisfied seeing the woman’s face turn shades of red and white, and she even gave a polite smile, which infuriated her even more.
She ignored the female Alpha and turned her attention back to the stage: “I’m very grateful everyone could find time to hear my speech. When the school found me and asked me to speak to the new students, I was actually reluctant. After all, my reputation is truly not great. But on second thought, this is a good opportunity to ‘whitewash’ (rehabilitate) myself. Note that ‘whitewash’ is in quotation marks…”
When she said “whitewash,” everyone couldn’t help but laugh, feeling that the Luo Yan before them was very different from the rumors. She was not only humorous but also self-deprecating, making her more likable than the average Alpha.
After adjusting the atmosphere to her liking, Luo Yan formally began. Although she didn’t have a script, it didn’t affect her performance at all. She spoke eloquently, explaining complex ideas simply while maintaining her personality. Many students below were pensive while also unable to stop laughing.
Even the female Alpha who initially mocked her became entranced and was nearly ready to join Luo Yan’s support club.
Luo Xi listened to the whole speech. From her initial slight anxiety to her relaxation at the start, to now following her sister’s emotions, she was truly surprised by her sister.
She never expected her sister to have such charisma in moving an audience and such stage control; it truly made her see her in a new light. Did she become a playboy and oppose everyone… just so she could secretly change and then stun everyone?
This was a wonderful surprise.
“The video is recording without any issues, right?” Luo Xi asked her assistant, as if suddenly remembering.
“It’s recorded, Eldest Miss,” the assistant replied immediately.
“Good. Later, send a copy to all our employees, and a special copy to that mother and daughter. Let them all see our Yanyan’s capabilities.”
Hearing the affirmative answer, Luo Xi spoke happily.
The assistant was quite surprised seeing her boss’s unmasked pride. When had her boss ever praised someone so high-profile? Even if it was her own sister… this move by Luo Xi was still astonishing.
How incredibly protective!
Luo Yan’s speech wasn’t long, about ten minutes. When it finished, she bowed to her fellow students and said politely: “Thank you all for liking my speech. I hope you were able to get some new ideas from it; then my trip here wasn’t in vain.”
“It was very useful! Truly enlightening!”
“Thank you so much! I feel like my ‘Ren and Du meridians’ have been opened; I’m full of confidence for my future!”
“Exactly! You are my spokesperson, saying exactly what I wanted to say! I think so too wuwu~”
“Senior Luo Yan, you are my idol from now on!”
“Senior Luo Yan, I like you! If you don’t have a partner, please consider me!”
“My god, you’re terrible, how did you say that before me? You’re so annoying!”
…
Luo Yan hadn’t expected her speech to cause such a stir. She couldn’t help but think of the big villain. Today, she had just looked at the Omega who suddenly went into heat without even touching her, and the big villain had completely erupted. She didn’t dare, nor did she have the mood, to get involved with these students, lest she cause more trouble.
So, she gave them no response and walked off stage, wanting to leave.
However, seeing the crowd so enthusiastic—her one speech had stirred up more emotion than several of others’ combined—the host naturally caught her and wouldn’t let her leave so soon.
“Hey, hey, everyone, is it right for Student Luo Yan to just run away after her speech?” The host timely blocked Luo Yan’s path and brought her back, shouting to the students below and holding out the mic for them to answer loudly.
“Of course not!”
“Wanting to leave before the Q&A session? That won’t do!”
“Exactly, I still have many things to ask!”
“Everyone stop arguing, I am unilaterally announcing right here—Yanyan is my wife! Don’t fight me for her!”
…
Luo Yan indeed wanted to escape the Q&A, but since she couldn’t, she had to stay. Hearing the increasingly absurd comments from below gave her a headache; she hadn’t even handled her own love life properly, and now “wife fans”?
She spoke directly into the mic: “Um, I want to offer a reminder: whether you announce it unilaterally or multilaterally, I cannot be your wife…”
She looked directly into everyone’s eyes with great seriousness. This made her expression and tone particularly alluring, causing people to instinctively quiet down and listen.
“…Because I already have an Omega I like. You should all go find your own true love, rather than calling someone ‘wife’ randomly.”
She spoke with such solemnity and serious focus that the people below were stunned. For a moment, it seemed they couldn’t react. After a long pause, they finally grasped the meaning of her words: “My god! Is she publicly admitting she has a partner?!”
“My mom, didn’t she say during her speech yesterday that she won’t mass-produce her designs and will only give them to the person she likes?”
“Even so… I thought that was just talk. I didn’t expect it to be real?!”
“This is so unexpected, save me!”
“I just want to know who her partner is!”
“Hah, don’t forget Luo Yan used to love playing around with Omegas. Don’t think she’s completely changed just because she advanced in a competition. A leopard doesn’t change its spots; don’t be fooled.”
…
Luo Yan didn’t care what others thought of her. She wasn’t being “lowly” by confessing to the big villain across the distance; she just didn’t want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings. Plus… she had just told her sister about her and Xue Wu today, yet they were in a state of “cold war”… it wasn’t quite right.
No matter what, she had to smooth it over. At least before the matter was completely resolved, she couldn’t be so fickle. Thus, she stated her stance here so everyone would know, including her sister.
—Anyway, the big villain didn’t care much for her; she probably never even thought about going public.
Luo Yan’s gaze dimmed at this thought. She told herself not to care too much because it was pointless. They were already at this point; why bother with these things? It was laughable.
But telling herself not to care was one thing; feeling bad was another. She couldn’t help but care. But so what? Life has many dissatisfactions; don’t dwell on them.
Luo Yan could no longer maintain her feigned good mood. After coming off stage and seeing her sister looking at her with admiration, she finally found some warmth.
No matter who was bad to her, her sister always stood by her. She had to cherish this familial bond for the original owner.
“Sister, why are you looking at me like that? You’re making me think I’ve grown flowers on my face.” Luo Yan said shyly as she approached her sister.
“Not bad, Xiao Yanyan. You really were hiding your light. I never knew you were such a good speaker. I’m leaving the opening speech for this year’s annual celebration to you!”
“Something months away and you’re arranging it now?” Luo Yan was surprised.
“Of course. If you don’t go up, that mother and daughter you dislike might go up instead.” Luo Xi stated the grave consequence.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t. I’ll do whatever Sister asks me to do.” Luo Yan directly stated her stance.
“How has our Xiao Yanyan become so obedient now?” Luo Xi never expected Luo Yan to be so compliant; she was completely different from the rebellious Alpha she used to be. She was deeply surprised.
“That’s because Sister is the person in this world who is best to me. No matter who harms me, Sister won’t.” Luo Yan wasn’t afraid to show her stance.
Luo Xi was clearly stunned by this sentence. It was very unexpected. This time she truly looked her in the eye, realizing her sister was indeed very different from before.
It was as if she had never known her.
“Sister, why are you looking at me like that? Do you not believe me?” Luo Yan naturally knew this would lead to Luo Xi’s suspicion, but she couldn’t spend her whole life playing another person. If she had wanted to, she would have worked hard to hide her differences from the start, rather than directly stating her intent to strive for success.
“A-Yan, it’s not that I don’t believe you,” Luo Xi looked at her gravely. “But…” she said, somewhat hesitantly touching her forehead, “You haven’t been possessed, have you?”
…
Meanwhile, at the hospital.
Xue Wu watched Luo Yan on the screen, smiling freely on the school stage. She felt as if a knife were twisting in her heart. Along with her guilt, she felt mostly sadness. In that situation earlier… she hadn’t rested properly and yet had to deal with so many people… one slip and something would happen to her.
Chen Jia suddenly pushed the door open, holding a test report, and placed it before her: “Sister Wu, this is the latest report from the hospital. Do you want to take a look?”
Xue Wu nodded emotionlessly and flipped open the report. Her expression grew grimmer as she read. Finally, at the end, she saw the conclusion:
Pheromone disorder and red blood cell abnormalities have reached peak levels. There is a risk of shock or sudden death at any moment.
Xue Wu’s gaze fixed on the words “sudden death.” Her face turned deathly pale. Suddenly, she remembered her previous life… and what her true cause of death was.
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!